Shaking The Ground
by WildNoa13474
Summary: AU. Nico is and always has been Robin. Too bad no one else has noticed it. Part 1 of the Identity Crisis series.
1. chapter 1

**AU. Nico is and always has been Robin. Too bad no one else has noticed it.**

 **A/N: Okay. Pretend Gaia isn't waking, the heroes had to close the doors of death for some other reason, and succeeded. Quest complete. Nico isn't drained and fading when using 'underworldly stuff'.**

 **Idea (nico is robin) borrowed from rapidChangeIsImminent.**

 **I'll be switching between 'Nico' and 'Dick' or 'Robin' quite frequently, depending on what topic I'm writing about. Be warned.**

Nico was humming softly, a nervous habit he'd developed over the years of traveling. Rather ironically, the lyrics stuck in his head were pretty accurate to his current situation. Probably why it was stuck in his head in the first place.

He'd just gotten back to Gotham after going missing for a week, in which he was kidnapped and suffocated by twin titans. Perfectly fine- as long as Nico didn't think about it- exept for the undoubtedly worried sick Bruce whom he'd have to face in a few minutes.

Even nervous as he was about explaining this to Bruce, and- oh gods- the Team, Nico couldn't help but relax slightly at the familiar streets of Gotham. How many nights had he spent here, fighting to protect the innocent or staking out a local gang?

That shouldn't be a relaxing thought, it really shouldn't, but after the events just a few hours ago this was more than welcome.

As he was walking, Nico began manipulating the mist to make his eyes seem blue. After Alecto kidnapped him from the Lotus Casino the first time, de-aging him which resulted in him losing his memories temporarily- thanks a lot Alecto- Hecate had subtly changed his eyes to sky blue to fit with his adoptive parents. After their.. death.. he was supposed to go to Juvie, and well, he did, for a day or so before he was kidnapped yet again and put back in the Lotus Casino with yet _another_ flimsy memory shield.

Nico still didn't see the point of it all, especially since he'd remembered everything only a week later at Camp Half-Blood... But he was glad it happened like that.

Nico pushed the memories away. He had enough painful stuff to deal with right now.

He came to a stop on the outskirts of Gotham, in front of the big fancy gate with the initials 'BW', and waved rather lamely at the camera.

"Hi. I'm back."

Oh Hades, Bruce was gonna skin him. Dick didn't even want to think about what Alfred would do. This was totally not asterous.

It was moments like these that he wished Bruce and Alfred knew about the double life he'd been leading. Every time Bruce had found out something- which was a _lot_ of times, he wasn't called World's Greatest Detective for nothing- the mist had covered for Nico. He was just amazed Bruce hadn't managed to look past the mist yet.

Speaking of the devil, Bruce had appeared on the doorstep about one hundred meters of lawn away. The gate opened slowly, ominously almost, and Nico took his first steps with dread.

Bruce had his hands folded behind his back and stood still as a statue. To an outside observer, the man seemed impeccably calm, but Dick detected his surrogate father's fury effortlessly.

As Dick had had hours to collect himself and stop gasping for air like a traumatized dying fish, he looked completely normal and not at all like a kidnap victim. For all Bruce knew, he'd just decided to take a stroll for a while.

A while being a week.

Coming to a stop before Bruce, who still hadn't moved an inch, Nico looked up cautiously.

Bruce's _you-better-explain-right-now-what-the-hell-you-were-thinking_ look gave Dick a tiny bit of hope. At least Bruce would let him explain..?

"Richard John Grayson-Wayne."

Well shit. Nevermind.

"Seven days. No message, no trace, not a single word explaining explaining your sudden dissappearance. What the hell was I supposed to think?!"

Bruce hand movements emphasized his _enraged-with-worry_ speech. This was all very familiar to Nico. All those times he'd disappeared- the Battle of Manhattan, his ventures to Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood, just fighting monsters- Bruce had reacted like he was now, and even though he had slowly gotten used to the endless excuses he never failed to be worried. It was heartwarming, in a way. Also completely terrifying.

"Do you _know_ how worried you made us? You could have been _dead_ and we wouldn't even know! You, young man, are grounded for life _and_ afterlife _and_ potential rebirth- don't interrupt me, you know I can make it happen."

Dick closed his mouth and swallowed his protest. Yes, Bruce could definitely make it happen, somehow. He was the Goddamn Batman, after all.

"And now you're going to explain in perfect detail _why_ you thought dissappearing was a good idea."

Dick meekly followed Bruce in and to the nearest living room, where Alfred stood waiting with his arms crossed, wearing his perfectly ironed suit like always and making Dick look like a walking fashion disaster in comparison. He'd no doubt heard the one-sided exchange outside.

Dick cringed in embarressment. Even though he wasn't really at fault here, Bruce and Alfred's looks made him feel incredibly guilty.

Bruce and Alfred raised an eyebrow in sync, waiting for Dick's explanation.

"Well.."

Bruce nodded encouragingly and gestured for him to continue his until now amazing story.

How was Dick gonna bullshit his way out of this one?

"This mysterious anonymous person begged for my help."

It was nice imagining the God of the Underworld on his knees before Nico- okay let's stop that train of thought _right now that sounded way too wrong._

"I couldn't refuse, besides, it should have only taken a few hours!" Dick attempted to defend himself from his guardians' skeptical looks.

"What made it take a _full week_ then, if I may ask, master Dick?"

"Umm... I kinda got captured?"

Both of the raised eyebrows nearly disappeared into Dick's parental figures' hairlines with skeptism. Well, Bruce's hairline and Alfred's bald spot. However much an eyebrow can dissappear into a bald spot anyway.

Okay, get back on track, Dick.

"They didn't actually do anything, just held me as leverage until another group beat them and I managed to escape."

It wasn't _technically_ lying..

The two looked suspicious.

"I think it was a gang war or something." Dick added convincingly.

Bruce sighed, resigned. "Fine. At least you're back in time for dinner. I'll call off the League's search party."

 _Ouch._ Bruce had resorted to a League search party only once before, and it wasn't good.

As Bruce turned and walked away to do just that, Alfred noticed the half-relieved look on Dick's face and commented casually, "Don't think this gets you off scott-free, master Dick. You're still grounded."

"And going to describe these persons and their actions to me _exactly_." Bruce called over his shoulder.

Wonderful.

"Ah, one other thing, master Dick."

Dick groaned. "Yes, of course, go ahead Alfie, I really want to hear more about my punishment."

"Actually, I was going to inform you that as far as the Team is concerned, you were on a trip out of the country. If you insist, however, I'm sure I can think up some more punishment-"

"No!" Dick yelped, alarmed. Alfred smirked.

"Nope, I am good to go, extra punishment is extremely unnecessary, I'm gonna go now goodbye!" Dick rattled off before running up the stairs into his room.

With a relieved and blissful sigh he let himself fall on the big, heavenly soft bed. How he had missed it.

All of this, actually. The banter, Gotham, Alfred, _Bruce.._

It was good to be back.

* * *

The next day, Bruce informed him that 'grounded' actually meant 'not grounded at all' - not in those words, obviously. Apparently Dick was still allowed to walk around Gotham, patrol, go to the Cave, etc.

Dick suspected Bruce had cooled down a bit, which he was thankful for.

So now Dick was headed to the Cave. The Team thought he'd just been on a trip, which made his life a whole lot easier, and he hadn't just hung around with them in a while. If Bruce needed him in Gotham, he'd call.

Following the familiar route, Dick came to a stop in front of the old-telephone-box-turned-Zeta-beam and looked up from his thoughts to see _a bronze jar_ _staringcan'tseecan'tbreathsomeone helpme-_

Nico snapped himself out of it and stumbled back, breathing heavily and staring with wide eyes at the completely normal telephone box. He had to lean against the wall to avoid falling over and swallowed the bile in his mouth.

Nope nope nope nope nope nope and nope. Nico turned away and got the hell out of there. He knew another Zeta beam nearby and that would probably become his usual one because _there was no way in Hades he was going near that thing again._

Once he was far enough away- _that's all you do, isn't it? run from your fears-_ Dick took a second to calm himself. It wouldn't do any good to show up looking like a terrified street cat with its hackles raised.

What the Hades was that? Nico hadn't had that happen before. Then again, it was not even 24 hours since he'd been found unconscious in an air tight bronze jar, so it was probably a normal reaction. Nico hoped it would fade with time. He knew it wouldn't.

Letting out a shaky breath, Nico composed himself, adjusting his sunglasses, and took the next best Zeta-Beam- one without any jar-shaped attributes- to the Mountain.

Even before he heard the classic Recognized: Robin B01 his usual smirk was on his face, only a little bit faked.

It became a genuine smile when KF flashed to the Zeta-Beam with an exited cry of "Rob!" and consequently tripped over Robin's outstretched foot.

Robin snickered and helped his friend up, the latter dazedly shaking his head. Wally snapped out of it almost immediately and turned to Robin with a wide grin.

"You're back, finally! We missed you dude!"

Wally's wide grin was infectious and Robin realized how much he'd missed this.

"Wally! If you don't come back with Robin right now we'll eat all the popcorn without you!" Sounded through the mountain.

Wally gasped something what sounded suspiciously like "My precious!" and speeded off, coming back half a second later to pick Robin up bridal style and run to the living room together(for which he got a whack on the head with a bird-a-rang from a laughing Robin).

Life was good.


	2. anew

"Nico!" An exited shout came from the dining area.

Nico looked up sharply from his position against the tree, and saw a very familiar person with sea green eyes and black hair waving wildly. He'd been about to fall asleep, dammit!

He fought the urge to roll his eyes and instead just nodded in return. Nico wasn't going to shout himself hoarse just to carry a conversation with Mr Overly Positive Nr 2, and he certainly wasn't going to come out of his perfect spot in the shade of the forest.

He'd almost nodded off in the comfortable cool again, when a much, much closer voice said, "Sunshine?"

Ah, there was Mr Overly Positive Nr 3.

Nico grumbled something along the lines of, "Go away Solace," (although to Will it sounded more like, "Grhh 'wey Suhlas,") and turned on his other side, his back to the voice.

"But Neeeeks!" another voice said. "Get up, Capture the Flag us about to begin!"

Oh fuck no. He'd brought Mr Overly Positive Nr 1. Jason would drag him off to the Aphrodite cabin for a makeover again if he didn't comply, no doubt..

Nico growled something unintelligible and curled into a ball, pulling his hood over his head as best as he could. They could go fuck themselves. He was not in the mood.

Batman was off in space on some mission to save the sun again, so Dick had been doing all the crime fighting in Gotham. Adding to that the Team missions, school and homework _and_ the biweekly quest from his father, he was _exhausted_ and when he finally got some free time these little _dipshit rays of sunshine_ were disturbing his slumber.

The sounds of talking quieted, and Nico thanked the gods they'd gotten the hint. He slowly sank back into sweet, sweet oblivion-

SPLASH!

Nico sputtered in shock for a moment, tasting salty seawater.

" **I'm gonna kill you three** " Nico's enraged yell echoed over the fields, and the previously snickering trio blanched and ran for their lives.

The campers were treated to the amusing sight of a dripping wet and furious Son of Hades running after a terrified Jason, Will and Percy.

Nico was very unamused.

" **I'm going to _end you,_ you little _fuckers_!** "

"Language, Mr Di Angelo!" Chiron called with a small smile.

" _Tace atque abi!_ "

"That's not what I meant, Mr Di Angelo, and you know it!"

Nico cursed as he stumbled and slowed, too tired to continue chasing. Messrs. Overly Optimistic had wisely hid, probably in the crowd of chaos, one of Nico's least favorite places. Nico was currently behind cabin five, however, and had no sight of the mess hall, so he couldn't check.

He sighed. It was getting late, he'd have to get back to the Manor anyway. Will wouldn't like it, as he'd been badgering Nico to stay at camp more, but he'd have to deal with it. Nico stepped into the shadows and reappeared in his room at the Manor, which appeared to spin for a bit before he stabilized himself with a hand.

A few minutes later, Nico found himself in the Batcave, simultaneously grateful for Bruce's return and cursing the man's existence.

Batman had come home early, the threat destroyed, and curt and moody. Nothing different, then. For some reason Bruce thought it was a good idea to have a nice homecoming spar, something about expecting the unexpected, so here he was, trying and failing to defend himself against the man.

"Attack! Don't just stand there, do something!" Bruce encouraged/commanded. He could detect a mild tone of concern in the man's voice; to anyone else it would have been unnoticeable, but Dick had known Bruce long enough, had seen enough of his faces to know his guardian's true emotion almost instantly.

Dick was, in fact, doing everything he could to counter Bruce's attacks. As it was, he was afraid his body would simply collapse after one too many flips. The cave tilted sideways, and Dick had too Blink a few times to clear his vision.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. Had it been this hot before? The bat cave was usually below normal temperature.

Worst of all, he was sure Bruce knew this and was actually going easy on him, even though it felt harder. The blows Bruce landed on him, which normally wouldn't even come close unless Dick let them, knocked him back like he was a piece of paper.

He felt like he'd just called up a skeleton army the size of Manhattan.

 _It shouldn't matter, Grayson-Di Angelo, you've been in worse conditions and persevered._

He had been in worse conditions. Even just with training in the Underworld, Nico had pushed himself to his limits and further, determined to never be too weak to protect his loved ones, not again.

Nico wasn't sure when he'd gone from standing ready for attack to falling, but he definitely felt his head hit the rocky bottom. Distantly, he heard a familiar voice call out in alarm.

Weakly, Nico tried to push himself up, fearing for the familiar voice's life, but his arms collapsed under him. What had he been doing just before now? Nico's mind was too hazy to make out memories.

He realized the voice was still talking, but he couldn't see anything anymore. Panicking, he tried to reach out for something, the voice maybe, but couldn't lift his arm. Nico's breathing quickened, and he tried to keep himself from hyperventilating. Why couldn't he see anything? Why couldn't he see he could always see why couldn't he see now the shadows were against him _he was back **there** it was darkhorrible LIVING-_

Nico lost consciousness.

 ***Tace atque abi: 'shut up and go away' in Latin.**

 **I'm sorry for this. I wrote this around 3 to 5 AM.** **Exept the last part.** **The final few paragraphs- collapsing from exhaustion- are based off my own experience, but as that was multiple years ago, and I was seven at the time, my memory may be faulty. Please tell me if I have something completely wrong.**

 **Collapsing from exhaustion:**

 **1\. Feeling weak, tired, unbalanced**.

 **2\. Stumbling** **, feeling too warm and weak**

 **3\. Loss of vision: eyes roll back into your head**.

 **4\. Panicking: not a symptom, but occurs frequently in this situation**.

 **4b. Sometimes attempting to go to a safe place (still able to walk/stumble)**

 **5\. Collapsing**.

 **6\. Loss of sense of touch**.

 **7\. Hearing goes last, with unconsciousness.**

 **Nico's situation is a bit different, not only collapsing from mental exhaustion but also from physical exhaustion. So he wouldn't have enough breath left to call out, or enough strength to walk.**


	3. haunt

_Nico was kneeling before his father's throne, on the cold tiles of the underworld palace._

 _He looked up, confused._

 _"Why did you summon me, father?"_

 _"Ah, Nico," Hades winced, looking guilty. "Nice to see you again. Please, rise."_

 _Nico did, and looked at the figure cloaked in dark, silently screaming souls before him questioningly._

 _"You see, son.." Hades winced again, as if expecting to get yelled at. "I wanted to talk to you about this, but you didn't sleep at all until now, so I couldn't send you a message."_

 _Nico was getting a bit worried about whatever Hades was getting at._

 _"What's going on, father?"_

 _"You see, twelve hours ago you became my official heir."_

 _"Your.. official...?"_

 _Hades nodded grimly. "This is an automatic process, concequental of living to this age and undergoing a certain set of trials accidentally. As of now, if I were to fade away during your lifetime, you will take over as the God of the Underworld and get every privilege and responsibility that comes with it."_

 _"... Oh Hades no. I would have to marry Persephone, wouldn't I? Oh Styx.."_

 _Hades looked amused, despite himself. "That's really the first thing that comes to your mind?"_

 _Suddenly Nico remembered. "Is that the reason I felt so drained all of a sudden?"_

 _Hades looked thoughtful for a second, before answering. "Probably. The title of heir itself comes with a few privileges too. A permanent power boost, for one. It was probably your body adjusting to the new balance."_

 _" Ah, makes sense." Nico nodded._ _His temporarily weaker body may not be appreciated, but it could have been something much worse._

 _He felt himself fading away into wakefulness._

 _"Goodbye for now, Father."_

 _"See you next time, Nico."_

Nico woke up to fluorescent lights. It took a moment to remember what happened, but when he did, he wished he didn't.

Man, Bruce was gonna kill him. Even more than usual.

Dick groaned at the thought and immediately regretted is as his throat felt scratchy and dry. He took the glass of water pressed into his hands gratefully and gulped it down, which was a mistake, as Dick quickly choked on it.

When his coughing fit had died down Nico looked over blearily to see Alfred sitting in the chair next to the bed he was laying in, polite indifference masking the concern on his face. He must've been carried to the hospital-ish white room of the manor. (Bruce insisted he call it the Hospital Wing like everyone did, but Dick refused on the grounds that 'you only wish the manor was Hogwarts, Bruce,')

Bruce wasn't in the room.

"Master Dick," Alfred began neutrally, and the aforementioned gave him a sheepish grin in the hopes of diminishing Alfred's wrath, "the next time you decide you've gotten bored of training, please say so instead of passing out."

Dick's grin dimmed slightly as he thought about what had happened not too long ago.

"Sorry, Alfred." He apologized sheepishly. Then again, he felt a lot better now. He must've been unconscious for a while. Or maybe it was just his unnaturally stubborn nature, as Alfred would have worded it.

He was still gonna get revenge on Messrs Overly Optimistic, though.

"What time is it?"

"Around dinnertime. Master Bruce said that if you're sufficiently healthy, to visit the Cave for a mission at eleven o'clock."

"Aww, really, a late mission? What about patrol?" Then he sighed. "Nevermind, Bruce won't let me patrol in Gotham after I just passed out, will he? He's probably searching the archives right now for a mission to get me out of Gotham."

"Most certainly." Alfred agreed.

"Alright, I guess I might as well go to the Cave immediately after dinner. Thanks for the help, Alfred."

"Of course, Master Dick."

A few hours and a long mission later, the Team confirmed that there was absolutely nothing behind the rumor of a new drug ring in Ivy Town.

"Well, if it wasn't for the robbery we stopped, I would've thought this was a waste of time." Artemis commented.

"Small missions like these strengthen team bonds." Kaldur reminded her, and Megan nodded.

"Yeah, besides, what if there really was a drug ring? It's important these things are discovered quickly, Artemis." Megan called over her shoulder as she entered the Bioship after Superboy and Kaldur.

Artemis shrugged and entered the Bioship too.

"You coming, Rob?" Wally called, pausing at the entrance of the Bioship when he saw Robin still standing in the street.

"Nah, I think I might head over to a nearby Zeta beam and go straight home. I still have some homework to finish for tomorrow." Robin answered yawning. Then he froze.

Nico sensed something and his instincts were screaming at him before he even realized what it was.

"Alright, see you then Rob."

Wally got no answer, and turned back around to see Robin standing still. He was facing away from Wally, so he couldn't see his friend's face, but his posture was tense and radiated danger.

Wally blinked in surprise and was about to ask what was wrong, but Robin had already disappeared into the shadows of the night.

Wally shrugged and joined the rest of the team in the bioship. Whatever it was, Robin thought he could handle it himself, so he probably could.

The next moment, Nico had slipped out of the shadows and slammed the Manticore up against the wall of a back alley, holding it by its throat, staring into its mismatched eyes with a hard fury only rivaled by Hades' himself.

The monster tried to yell in shock, but didn't have enough oxygen. Nico's arm was blocking his lungs

"Hello again. I've been waiting for you to reform ever since Dionysus got you before I could."

Nico's voice was casual, pleasant almost as he spoke to the monster that had indirectly taken his sister away from him forever.

"Try anything and you'll make me guilty of felicide by hellfire."

Nico squeezed its neck harder and the Manticore let out a choked noise of agreement, wide eyes trailing to the Stygian Iron blade pointed in his face.

"You pathetic little **worm** thought you could get away with what you've done?"

Nico's voice turned to a low growl as he spit the words at the monster like they were acid.

"Were you under the impression that dying once would make me stop hunting you? I am a child of the Underworld. We don't let go of grudges. Not these."

Nico's dark voice gained an eerie echo and his eyes seemed to almost glow as he spoke for both his father and himself.

"You will regret crossing me for the rest of **e t e r n i t y**."

The monster looked absolutely horrified and flinched away from the cold, dark metal of the blade.

"You caused her death. **You will never be forgiven. Your essence will burn in my blade forevermore**."

With that, Nico stabbed the monster in the heart and relished in the scream of aging that followed, echoing away as his sword absorbed the monster equivalent of a soul.

The glow in his eyes faded with his anger as he turned away and disappears into the shadows of the alley.

Exhaustion set in as he reappeared in his room in the Underworld, falling onto his bed and burying his head in his hands. He felt sick.

He'd just permanently ended a monster's existence. He'd known he could do it for a while, but actually doing it... Sure, the thing had deserved it beyond anything, but the fact that it was a monster didn't impact the No Killing rule that was so firmly ingrained in his mind.

He'd known monsters that were almost like humans. Monsters were people too, they had personalities, wants, hopes, dreams, and he had just ended one forever.

He had lowered himself to that level.

Nico thought bitterly that it wasn't surprising. He was a child of the Underworld, after all. Murder and hatred were only expected from him.

 ***Felicide: killing of a cat. Basically, Nico is insulting the manticore by calling him a mere cat while he's actually a lion/scorpion hybrid, while at the same time threatening to kill him with hellfire. Good times.**


	4. left

He didn't go back to the mansion after.

He couldn't face Bruce or Alfred, not with the fake eyes and his hands covered in phantom dust even though the actual dust had long fallen.

He couldn't smile at them like everything was alright. It wasn't.

He could never come back from this. Not this.

There was only one thing he couldn't stop himself from doing.

Batman would think he'd been kidnapped. He'd search for years. Robin couldn't do that to him.

When he was done, he hesitated, his Robin costume in hand. He had to let this go, this fake life he'd enjoyed until he couldn't escape from who he'd become.

He was meant to leave this behind like it never was.

He took it back with him.

The blank note he'd left would say it all. It was an old batcode, one used many times over the years, for different reasons. It always meant the same general thing.

 _I'm away. Don't search for me._

In the past, it had been ' _Hey Bruce, I'm hanging out with friends or flying right now, don't worry about me.'_ Or it had been _'I need some alone time. I'm okay.'_

This time Bruce would find it and he'd stare at it for days, trying to find something that would help him understand what he did wrong. Where he'd messed up so bad to scare his son away.

But the note remained as blank as it had always been.

"Nico."

He didn't have the energy to startle when his name was called. His raised his head to the door of his room. His father was standing in the door opening.

"You've been spending time on earth more and more the last few months. I was thinking you'd finally made friends in that demigod camp." Hades' expression of slight curiosity changed into worry when he saw Nico's face.

It was sullen and tired. Lifeless.

"Son, what-" Hades stopped as Nico mutely shook his head. The Lord of the Dead nodded back and turned to let Nico be.

Hades knew the value of silence and time. If his son wanted to talk, he would talk.

Nobody talked that night.

 **A/N Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nico, what the Hades are you doing! This is not what I had planned for you at all! Why the hell are you straying off the vague plot I had in mind?!**

 **Seriously, this was not how I expected things to go. I just wanted to have a nice normal reveal fic. Then the Minotaur comes and Nico blames him for Bianca's death because he's got nobody else to blame it on and it all goes to Hades.**

 **Okay, I can work with this. Deep breaths. The plot can still be saved.**


End file.
